This invention relates to a roller cable assembly and more particularly to a roller cable assembly of the type that is used in a window regulator.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,678 granted to Tadashi Adachi May 10, 1994 discloses a schematic general construction of a power window device for a vehicle door in FIG. 4 of the patent. A window glass of the door is slideably supported at its front and back ends by door frames which are arranged along the vertical direction of the door. A bracket that is secured to the lower end portion of the window glass slides on a vertical guide rail that is fixed to the vehicle door. The bracket is secured to a tape that is trained over three rollers so as to run in a triangular loop. The three rollers include two guide rollers at the upper and lower ends of the guide rail and a third drive roller that is between the two guide rollers in the vertical direction and spaced form the guide rollers in the horizontal direction. The drive roller which is driven by a electric motor, drives the tape which in turn raises and lowers the window glass. In an alternate arrangement shown in FIG. 3 of the patent, the lower guide roller is driven eliminating the need for a third roller. The structure of the guide rail and the manner of attaching the guide rollers at the upper and lower ends of the guide rail is not disclosed in detail.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,411 granted to Herbert Tschirschwitz et al Aug. 2, 1994 discloses a cable window winder comprising a vertical guide rail and a slide element or bracket that is secured to the lower end portion of a window glass. A holding angle is fixed at each end of the guide rail. A pulley rotates on a double stepped axle bolt that is permanently attached to each holding angle. Each holding angle is attached to a panel by a screw that passes through the associated axle bolt. The ends of a cable are fixed to the slide element. The cable wraps around the pulleys and then winds around a cable drum that is spaced from the pulleys in a triangular arrangement. The cable drum is rotatably fixed to the panel. The cable drum is rotated to raise and lower the window glass. The portions of the cable that are between the cable drum and the respective holding angles slide in sheaths or Bowden sleeves that are connected to the cable drum housing at one end and to the respective holding angle at the other end.
In its broadest sense, the invention provides an integrated roller cable assembly comprising a guide rail with at least one roller assembly at one end that is easy to assembly and economical to manufacture.
The roller assembly comprises a base that slides into a slot in a rolled section guide rail and a roller that is rotatably attached to the base by a detachable cap pin. The detachable cap pin is attached to the base easily and without need for any other fasteners. The base preferably has a fitting for attaching an end of a conduit for the cable to the base. The detachable cap pin preferably includes a head with an L-shaped arm that keeps the cable in a peripheral groove of the pulley and that can be used to keep an end fitting of the cable away from the fitting for the end of the conduit.